Jeter shaken up in Yanks' win

BOSTON — Derek Jeter doesn't even want to miss one inning of the New York Yankees' playoff push.

All tangled up: The Yankees' Alex Rodriguez crashes into Red Sox first baseman James Loney during the ninth inning in Boston on Wednesday. New York won 5-4. AP

The shortstop pulled up lame after lunging for first base on his double-play groundout to end the eighth inning of New York's 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night. Manager Joe Girardi had to talk him into coming out of the game, but Jeter said he would be back in the lineup when they try to hold onto first place in the AL East again Thursday.

"It's really not a thing," Jeter told reporters, refusing to confirm any details about the injury. "They just said, 'Put ice on it (and) come back tomorrow.' "

A day after Jacoby Ellsbury's game-ending single dropped New York into a tie with Baltimore atop the division, the Yankees got all their runs on homers to remain there. Curtis Granderson hit two home runs and Robinson Cano also homered.

Ichiro Suzuki was hitless in three at-bats for New York.

Jeter had two hits to raise his batting average to .325, which is third in the AL. With one out and runners on first and third in the eighth, he hit a grounder to second base and ran down the first-base line to try to beat the relay throw from the shortstop.

Stretching for the base — too late to beat the throw — Jeter began limping on his left leg as he continued down the first-base line into right field. Girardi and trainer Steve Donohue rushed out to help him and Jeter tried to wave them off, but the manager overruled him.

"I said, 'We're going to sit you out," Girardi told reporters, adding that Jeter had aggravated a previous injury. "It's not that serious. It's something we have to be aware of. But hopefully he's OK."

Orioles 3, Rays 2

In Baltimore, Manny Machado led off the ninth inning with a single and scored the winning run on a single by Nate McLouth.

The Orioles started the day tied atop the AL East with the New York Yankees.

Tigers 8, White Sox 6

In Chicago, Max Scherzer pitched six effective innings to earn his career-high 16th win.

Rangers 5, Indians 2

In Arlington, Texas, Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre homered before each left due to injuries.

Royals 10, Twins 5

In Minneapolis, Billy Butler had three hits and three RBIs, and Kansas City's bullpen picked up struggling starter Luke Hochevar.

Mariners 3, Blue Jays 2

In Toronto, Miguel Olivo hit a solo home run and Kevin Millwood won consecutive starts for the first time since May.

Athletics 4, Angels 1

In Anaheim, A.J. Griffin threw eight scoreless innings, becoming the second Oakland pitcher in 85 years to start his major league career with six straight wins, and Yoenis Cespedes homered.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Phillies 3, Marlins 1

In Philadelphia, Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run homer and Cliff Lee pitched seven strong innings.

Nationals 2, Mets 0

In New York, John Lannan tossed 5? shutout innings and Washington lowered its magic number for clinching a playoff berth to six.

Reds 2, Pirates 1

In Cincinnati, Homer Bailey pitched seven solid innings and the Reds came up with just enough offense for a win.

Giants 8, Rockies 3

In Denver, starter Tim Lincecum worked effectively for six innings, Brandon Crawford doubled twice and drove in two runs, and San Francisco beat Colorado.

Padres 3, Cardinals 2

In San Diego, Clayton Richard pitched seven strong innings and rookie Yasmani Grandal singled home the go-ahead run.

Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 2

In Phoenix, Justin Upton and Gerardo Parra hit consecutive RBI singles to support Trevor Cahill's seven strong innings.

Brewers 8, Braves 2

In Milwaukee, Rickie Weeks blasted a three-run home run and Travis Ishikawa hit a bases-clearing double in an eight-run fifth.

Norichika Aoki finished 2-for-4 for the Brewers.

Cubs 5, Astros 1

In Houston, Alfonso Soriano finished a triple shy of the cycle and drove in two runs, and Travis Wood allowed one run over 7? innings.

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Jeter moves closer in loss

Flexibility: New York's Derek Jeter dives for a ball to make a force play at second base against Cleveland in the fourth inning on Wednesday. The Indians beat the Yankees 5-3. AP PHOTO

CLEVELAND — Justin Masterson blanked New York's vaunted lineup, only allowing Derek Jeter to move one rung closer to 3,000 career hits.

He couldn't have done it without Asdrubal Cabrera.

Masterson pitched eight shutout innings and Cabrera, the Indians' All-Star shortstop, made two stunning defensive plays to help his starter as Cleveland beat the Yankees 5-3 on Wednesday night, taking two of three games in the series between two of the AL's division leaders.

Playing on a sprained ankle, Cabrera still managed to make two plays in the eighth that left almost everyone at Progressive Field breathless.

"Nothing he does surprises me," Masterson said. "It never gets old."

Jeter got his 2,997th hit, lining a double in three at-bats against Masterson (7-6). The righty allowed three hits, struck out six, walked two and got just his second win since April 26.

"His stuff was some of the best we've seen," Jeter said. "He was throwing 95, 96 all night with movement. He pitched outstanding."

Jeter's quest to become the 28th major leaguer — and first purebred pinstriper — to reach 3,000 will resume on Thursday night against Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium.

Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 4

In Boston, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis both had three extra-base hits and Tim Wakefield scattered nine hits in seven innings to lead Boston.

Athletics 2, Mariners 0

In Oakland, Guillermo Moscoso allowed two hits over seven innings and Scott Sizemore homered and drove in two runs.

Hideki Matsui was 0-for-3 with a walk for the A's.

Ichiro Suzuki finished hitless in four at-bats for Seattle.

Rays 12, Twins 5

In Minneapolis, Evan Longoria had three hits and four RBIs for Tampa Bay, which avoided being swept.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka finished 3-for-3 with a walk for the Twins.

Tigers 5, Angels 4

In Anaheim, Miguel Cabrera homered during a three-run seventh for Detroit.

Reliever Hisanori Takahashi took the loss for Los Angeles.

Royals 4, White Sox 1

In Chicago, starter Bruce Chen pitched effectively into the seventh and Eric Hosmer homered.

Rangers 13, Orioles 5

In Arlington, Texas, Alexi Ogando allowed four hits over seven innings and Texas completed a three-game sweep.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Reds 9, Cardinals 8 (13)

In St. Louis, pinch hitter Ramon Hernandez doubled in the go-ahead run in the 13th inning as Cincinnati survived blowing an eight-run lead.

Nationals 5, Cubs 4

In Washington, Wilson Ramos' suicide squeeze drove in Michael Morse in the seventh inning to lift the Nationals.

Astros 8, Pirates 2

In Pittsburgh, Hunter Pence had three hits, including an RBI single during a five-run sixth inning, and Houston snapped a five-game losing streak.

Braves 9, Rockies 1

In Atlanta, Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer and Jair Jurrjens earned his NL-leading 12th win for the Braves.

Marlins 7, Phillies 6 (10)

In Miami, Mike Stanton hit a one-out solo homer in the 10th inning and Florida overcame an early four-run deficit to avert a series sweep.

Brewers 3, Diamondbacks 1

In Milwaukee, pinch hitter Casey McGehee hit a three-run homer in the seventh.

Mets 5, Dodgers 3

In Los Angeles, Ruben Tejada, filling in for the injured Jose Reyes, doubled home two runs, Carlos Beltran doubled twice and scored twice, and New York won its fourth straight.

Hiroki Kuroda (6-10) gave up four runs and eight hits over six innings for Los Angeles, dropping to 1-5 with a 5.75 ERA in seven career starts against the Mets.

Giants 6, Padres 5 (14)

In San Francisco, Nate Schierholtz hit his second homer of the game to lead off the bottom of the 14th for the Giants.

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Jeter held hitless in return

Beating the tag: Philadelphia's Domonic Brown slides home safely in front of Florida catcher John Buck in the seventh inning on Monday. The Phillies beat the Marlins 1-0. AP

CLEVELAND — In 10 years, Austin Kearns has just two career hits against A.J. Burnett.

He's made them both count.

Kearns hit his first homer in 105 at-bats this season, a stunning three-run shot in the seventh inning off Burnett, sending the Cleveland Indians to a 6-3 win and spoiling All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter's return to the Yankees' lineup Monday night.

With two on and the Indians trailing 2-1, Kearns, who has been in a slump all season, hit a 1-0 pitch from Burnett (8-7) the opposite way to right for his first homer since Aug. 22, when he wore Yankee pinstripes. Kearns came up batting only .192 with two RBIs in a part-time role.

He was only 1 of 11 against Burnett — a grand slam as a rookie in 2002 for Cincinnati.

"It's a funny game," Kearns said.

Jeter was back in his familiar spot at shortstop and again atop the batting order for the first time since June 13, when he went on the disabled list with a calf injury. New York's captain went 0-for-4 and remained six shy of becoming the first Yankees player to reach 3,000 hits.

"I felt fine, no problems, no issues," Jeter said. "I was nervous at the beginning, almost like it was opening day again. It was just nerves. Three weeks is definitely a long time to be out. I felt better as the game went on."

Twins 7, Rays 0

In Minneapolis, Tsuyoshi Nishioka doubled in a pair of runs and Brian Duensing went the distance, throwing a six-hit shutout as the Twins blanked the Rays.

Minnesota broke out for three runs in the second inning. Danny Valencia, who went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer in the eighth, and Jason Repko singled off David Price and Matt Tolbert walked to load the bases for Nishioka.

Nishioka delivered a two-run double before Ben Revere had an RBI groundout.

"It was a big hit by Nishioka," said Michael Cuddyer, who added a solo homer for the Twins in the third.

"He took that fastball away, and it kind of started us off. Obviously, (it) started the scoring off, but it also told us we could hit this guy (Price) today."

Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 7

In Boston, Travis Snider had three doubles and drove in a pair of runs and Aaron Hill homered as Toronto became the latest team to rough up John Lackey.

Mariners 2, Athletics 1

In Oakland, Michael Pineda and three relievers combined on a three-hitter and Josh Bard hit his first home run of the season for Seattle.

Ichiro Suzuki finished 2-for-4 for the Mariners, while Hideki Matsui went 1-for-4 for the A's with a run scored.

White Sox 5, Royals 4

In Chicago, A.J. Pierzynski scored the winning run on a balk called on Aaron Crow in the ninth.

Rangers 13, Orioles 4

In Arlington, Texas, Endy Chavez had his first four-RBI game in more than eight years with a long home run and a double.

Angels 5, Tigers 1

In Anaheim, Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells homered and Joel Pineiro yielded five hits over seven solid innings.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Pirates 5, Astros 3

In Pittsburgh, rookie Alex Presley had three of the home team's 14 hits and the Pirates moved three games over .500 this late in the season for the first time in 12 years.

Nationals 5, Cubs 4 (10)

In Washington, Jayson Werth turned boos to cheers by scoring the winning run on a wild pitch in the 10th inning, and the Nationals snagged another one-run victory.

Kosuke Fukudome was hitless in four at-bats for the Cubs.

Phillies 1, Marlins 0

In Miami, Vance Worley pitched seven sharp innings and Philadelphia scored the only run on a close play in the seventh.

Cardinals 1, Reds 0

In St. Louis, Chris Carpenter outdueled Cincinnati nemesis Johnny Cueto with eight impressive innings, then watched from the dugout as pinch hitter Mark Hamilton drove in the lone run with an infield hit.

Padres 5, Giants 3

In San Francisco, Will Venable hit his second home run of the season and San Diego pounced on Tim Lincecum.

Diamondbacks 8, Brewers 6

In Milwaukee, Chris Young drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the ninth inning and Arizona overcame a grand slam by pitcher Shaun Marcum.

Braves 4, Rockies 1

In Atlanta, Freddie Freeman homered twice to drive in three runs and Tommy Hanson combined with two relievers on a four-hitter.

Mets 5, Dodgers 2

In Los Angeles, Angel Pagan, Carlos Beltran and Daniel Murphy had RBI doubles in the sixth.

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